Iran and the Bomb: The Documentary of the Week

Iran’s nuclear ambitions have the world on edge. Because of its reluctance to admit international inspectors, and its progress in enriching uranium, the situation is increasingly tense. A nuclear Iran could lead to a Middle Eastern arms race and destabilize the world’s oil market. In this edition of America Abroad we explore whether sanctions and other diplomatic efforts are enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

• Iran's nuclear ambitions have the world watching, and few countries are watching closer than Israel, which has raised the possibility of pre-emptive military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Linda Gradstein reports.

• Since nuclear weapons were developed, the world has struggled to stop them from spreading. Host Katherine Lanpher takes us through the history of nuclear non-proliferation, from Hiroshima to today.

• Europe is imposing tough sanctions on Iran, restricting oil purchases and other business. Megan Williams reports from Brussels, Berlin, and Italy, on the impact sanctions could have on oil, and business in general, in Europe.

• How did the US-Iran relationship arrive at its current state? Joseph Braude talks to former Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama White House officials, about recent efforts at diplomacy with the Iranian regime.

• Joseph Braude traces the history of Islamist movements from the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928 to today.

• The international community is engaging in a new round of talks with Iran, trying to break a stalemate over nuclear weapons inspections. Host Katherine Lanpher and her guests discuss the potential of the talks and the next possible steps for the Obama administration.

It was one of the more surreal photo ops this week: Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, live on Iranian TV, visiting a nuclear reactor. Ahmadinejad trumpeted his country's nuclear progress, but denied, once again, that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.

In Washington, officials weren't buying it.

They rushed to repeat the official U.S. line — a line President Obama himself is fond of delivering.

"Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal," he said.